Thursday, January 26, 2017

Several years ago I started a Facebook account. It seemed a valid reason for connecting to friends and family. I started blogging before FB. I was racing speedway motorcycles and began reporting my races on my blog and posting each new blog on FB.

The ads got me madder as they kept pointing to Dating Russian women or similar scams. So I changed my birthday to a teenager.

Then ads were aimed at selling me something in my living area. So I changed my location to a remote island.

One day while riding around the Rose Bowl on my road bike I saw all these tailgaters before a football game. Several had portable outhouses aside their RVs. When I gone back I did a search on Google about these portables then saw the product on Amazon and clicked that. The next day my FB sidebar is full of portables.

FB kept changing the rules and procedures and the hackers kept on hacking.

I had two parakeets and got them a Facebook account. It was a great way to see pictures of other pet owners. Then FB closed the account because my birds were not potential buyers.

So I deactivate the account. I waited a while then deleted everything.

My blogging slowed when I moved on to my sailboat to live full time because the WIFI connection was a total waste. It worked some days but most often not.

For a time I lived with my daughter on shore and she had DSL so I blogged a little but not motorcycles. I had been using Goodreads for several years then one day it required my FB account to login. So without a FB account my Goodreads account was blocked. So I emailed them and two weeks later they allowed me to sign on without the FB bullshit.

Then the find a friend (more BS). I added a few old friends and family and posted each new blog on FB. The FB app was deleted on my Samsung Phone right after I bought it. Three days ago I restarted the app so I could post my puppy pictures directly on to FB.

So much for this crap so I try to delete account but I can't sign in because they are blocking me until I give them personal info (so Fuck them)

Catch 22 (I read the book) places me in FB Purgatory whereas I am unable to sign in to delete.

Many others have faced this problem and the web offers many solutions but most point you to the three dots on the FB page to delete the account. After many years I can't fight back because I don't have a 3 dot rating.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Almost a month of sleepless nights as today marks the 28th day since my Christmas present was delivered in the pouring rain (raining cats and dogs).

I have not counted the days of rain we have had the last month but after several years of drought is is surely welcome. Several people here have been grousing about the rain and now the temperature has dropped down into the high thirties. Where we live we are surrounded by walkways that surround the marina. Lots of dog walker are here all day log. Many dogs have rain coats or sweaters but Happy Tails only has his life jacket with a handle on it.

At first he didn't want to wear it but yesterday he accepted the jacket without complaining. When I row I face the stern of the sabot and my old first mate Dede had learned to sit in the bow whereas Happy has to sit in the stern where I can keep an eye on him until he learns about rowing.

Dede actually enjoyed going out for a row. She did not like sailing in the big boat but was alright in the sabot with the sail up.

Our routine of puppy and getting off and on the boat is still pickup and carry. He is learning how to jump off ledges and climb stairs but is not ready to jump on or off the sailboat. He has a shore spot he likes to poop at so we must get off the boat in the dark while it is raining and I use the dock steps at the starboard side of my sailboat. There is a small solar powered led light on the step but it isn't that bright as the sun is still in winter.

Dede could jump from the dock into the boat with one good leap and get off without any problems. When the sailboat was in Wilmington she would sneak off on her own and wander around outside the marina gated entry by simply crawling under it.

During the past week we had a visitor from space. The SpaceX Falcon 9 returned on its drone barge and it could be seen from the boat. I have been following the barge and SpaceX because the barge is on by walking or bike riding route. The first stage was here yesterday but is no longer upright today as it is being transported.

As I see the pup 24/7 I don't realize the day to day changes but people who see any on the weekend always comment on how much he has grown. Most say that I am going to need a bigger boat.

Yesterday he met his first Great Dane and Large Poodle. Happy went running with them but could not keep up with pack.

When Happy was at the adoption clinic awaiting a new home the other puppies chewed on his tail tip. Today the hair has grown back in and looks great. The hair on his back is starting to change from puppy fur to shiny black teenager hair.

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Friday the 13th came and went yesterday. The Thursday before I received a text message from Frances my daughter telling me that the pup needed to get another one of his puppy shots and it was best to go early. The clinic is located on Gaffey in the 900 block north. We live just south of 22nd Street so the trip is about two miles during the morning rush hour. We don't do much rushing these days, the we being the puppy and me. He has only ridden in his carrier in the rear of my Nissan three times and that was for less than a mile because he was crying too much.

Inside clinic

In the morning in San Pedro all the traffic is headed north to get on the freeways and the cross streets around schools are clogged with parents letting their kids off at school. I made a mistake of going up to Gaffey past a elementary school and after the recent rainy spell it looked like walking school just wasn't happening.

Monster Paws

We finally got to SNP|LA (spay neuter project of los angeles) after a few minutes of driving that seemed like hours. The grass around the parking lot was wet and the hill across the street was bright with the fresh grass.

We signed in with Happy Tails and was greeted with cheery faces that remember him. They remarked about his growth and his tail tip. Early at the shelter the other puppies had decided that his tail was a chewing bone treat and the tail end looked like a rat tail. I see his hair growing back on his tail tip but his size increase is less apparent because he is with me 24/7 but picking him up is becoming a chore.

self feeding

On December 8 the clinic records show him weighing 5 lbs. and 8 oz. 36 days later he weighs in at a new fighting weight of 22 lbs. (ready for the ring) which is close to 1/2 pound a day increase.

He continues to like all humans large or small but is still shy with other dogs that are larger that him.

Happy is not interested in the morning skunks we have seen during a 5 AM wake up walk or the black feral cat that hangs out in the parking lot where the divers (boat cleaners) park feed the negro gato during the week. The cat actually follows the divers in the morning when they walk over to the tackle shop to get coffee.

Happy is climbing around the boat top side which my former first mate didn't. He has been on two other sail boats when their crews come back in from a sail.

My son Dylan keeps nagging me about borrowing the pup but I don't think the pup is ready yet, he has never been in a house or apartment before (the pup not Dylan). In the video below you can see Hucker riding the trails with his dog. Dylan has plans to do this too.

His head habits (boats don't have toilets) are improving and it is much easier to get him outside with it is not pouring down rain. I refer to the morning routine as a Chinese Fire Drill when before 5 AM he starts making noises under my V-Berth. The race is to get dressed and bundled up so he can pee on the shore. We don't have any doggie-door but drop boards that must be removed and hatch opened, a ladder to be climbed up and a cockpit to cross, dock steps to manage then a dock ramp to climb and gate unlocked. This was getting too much not to have my morning coffee before setting out so I stopped drinking coffee (cold turkey) and placed my Mr. Coffee in one of my shore lockers.

Happy Happy

Everyday something has to be removed or relocated to prevent chewing or him getting into the trash. He has two stuffed toys, a small reindeer from the adoption shelter (with matching reindeer blanket) and a stuffed dog that is now missing a nose.

For those aware of boats this might sound stupid but sailboats and powerboats have different shapes as their function vary. And getting on and off a boat can be easy or part of a climbing experience.

Dylan and Happy Tails

The interior cabin is accessed by removing three drop board from the forward entrance and climbing down the interior ladder which has 4 steps. When it warm and not raining the drop boards are stored but when it is cold and wet as it has been the boards are in place.

Going to poor house one bag at a time

Potty training requires that the pup get out of the cabin, get off the boat and be carried to a pot of dirt next to a tree in the parking lot. This requires a Chinese fire drill if any learning is too take place. The dog is rewarded vocally when he starts to pee and this may be startling if anyone is out at 5 AM and see us.

Chewing on his bowl

As I write here and wander about with the keyboard dog reports may not be in order. After Frances got the dog and helped me replace the battery in my car we drove to Centre Street Market to get some puppy chow. The pup liked it and the small bag did not last long. My next visit was to Vons here but they had stopped sticking puppy chow so had to get a bag of food for small dogs. That kibble had to be smashed with my hammer in to smaller pieces he could handle.

Roaming

On my last trip to Vons I found a large bag of puppy chow. When the puppy is in the cabin he currently can not climb out but if he is in the boat's cockpit he must be watched. He can climb over the sideboards into the cockpit but can't climb out yet. I need to get him a harness or life jacket with a handle so if he falls in I can use a boat hook to pull him out. For now he is always watched around the water.

Standup

After he has learned to sit and stay he can go out in our sabot rowing and maybe try riding the stand up paddle. He can walk with the leash and his tug of war is getting better. He loves strangers and follows people walking around the sidewalk. Pup has got for several car rides and visited several parks. He is growing quickly and will probably out grow his any harness or vest I would buy today.

Dylan brought him a new doggy bed as the cardboard box was being chewed up.

There was some debate about naming him and at present he is "Happy Tails"

Or just "Happy" and not to be confused with Happy from Space Patrol and those 15 minute afternoon live black and white TV shows in the afternoon on Channel 7 in Los Angeles when I was a kid.

Lots of information here about the shooter. Probably a good Google search would bring same. In Newtown you must be 21 to process firearms, Adam was 20 went he went on his rampage. He got his first rifle at age 4? (I got mine at age eight...